Liquid cooling apparatus



Dec. 25, 1934. L. sAMEL LIQUID COOLING APPARATUS 2`- Sheets-Skies?I 1'Filed Nov. 3, 1933 a Leo 5am eb v BY www, am /myf%, *A ATTORNEYS.

iDec.` 25, 1.934. L sAMEL LIQUID COOLING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 3, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR WITNESSES l/ eo Sam eL BY Patented Dec. 2.5,1934 UNITED STATES 1,965,263 -L'IQUm oooLlNGlArPAnATUs Leo Samel,Irvington, N. J.

IPATENT OFFICE Application november 3, 1933, serial No.. 696,583

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a liquid cooling apparatus, and has for anobject to provide animproved construction wherein a large volumefofliquid maybe quickly cooled.

Another object of the invention is to provide formed that the enteringbeer will be maintained in a liquid state as it enters an fthe gasesformed afterwards will be allowed to escape from time to time through aspecially constructed valve.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a perspective view of acooling apparatus disclosing an embodiment of the invention, certainparts being broken away for illustrating certain detailed features ofthe device;

Figure 2 is a sectional view through Figure 1 f approximately on theline 2-2, the same being on a reduced scale;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through one of the valves shown inFigure 1, the same being on a greatly enlarged scale;

YFigure 4 is a perspective view of a cooling apparatus disclosing a.slightly modif-led structure Ito that illustrated in Figure 1, andillustrating how the inventive idea may be applied to containersarranged horizontally instead of vertically;

Figure 5 is a sectional view through Figure 4 approximatelyon the line5-'5.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by numerals, 1, 2 and 3 indicatecooling tanks or containers. 'I'hese tanks as shown in Figure 1 arearranged vertically. The same general idea is shown in the embodimentdisclosed in Figure 4, wherein the tanks 4, 5 and 6 are arrangedhorizontally.

As illustrated in Figure 1 the tanks are-ar. ranged in a unit and arepositioned asv close to- This grouping gether as is reasonably possible.

of the containers is adapted to contain a com-4 paratively largequantity of liquid as, for instance, beer. Thev entire structure a'sshown in Figure 1 is preferably submerged'in water and ice so that allparts will be subjected to the cooling action o-f the water and ice. Itis, of course,

` understood that the device could be arranged in a space chilled byother cooling mediums without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

and for maintaining the beerr 'tainer 1.

vthrough the comparatively small (ci. zas-L40) As an instance, thedevice could be positioned in some form of gas or electric refrigeratorand the same desirable results secured.

As illustrated a supply pipel 7 is used, the same extending preferablydownwardly to a tank of beer or other liquid to be cooled. Where beer isto be cooled the barrel or keg is usually arranged in the cellar of theAbuilding while the unit consisting of the containers 1, 2 and 3fisarranged very near the place where thel beer is to be dispensed. Thegaseous pressure in the beer causes the beer to flow upwardly throughpipe 7, thence through pipe 8 to the discharge member 9 which isinterior of the tank 1 and near the upper 4 part thereof.' As shown, thedischarge member 9 is an arc-shaped tubular member which discharges theliquid in an opposite direc' tion substantially parallel with the sidesof the container 1. By' this structure the beer is not projectedviolently against the opposite wall but gently flows in a sheet aroundthe walls and downwardly when the lilled. When the container is tllledthe entering beer flows gently around along 'the wall and mixes with thebeer already in the container without producing any agitation, thusretaining the gases in the natural state in the beer.

Where beer` is being cooled the gas in the beer will naturally andautomatically force the same upwardly from the barrel into thecontainer 1. some little distance oil and below the container 1 it maybe necessary to apply air pressure to the barrel to force the beerupward into the con- However, as far as the present invention isconcerned the beer may be directed through the pipe. 7 by any desiredmeans and will be discharged into the container 1. As soon as thiscontainer is filled the beer will pass from the bottom thereof, throughpipes 10 and v11, to the discharge members the tanks 2 and 3 andfunctioning simultaneously to the discharge member 9. It will be notedthat the liquid in all the tanks is discharged into the tank near theupper end but not exactly at the upper end. After the tanks have beenlled there is naturally a pressure maintained thereon whether thecontents is beer or some other liquid. Thispressure is necessary inorder that the liquid may flow out through the ntting 14 and upwardlypipe 15v to the vending pipe 16. Pipe 16 is preferably very short andextends to a spigot or valve at a convenient point whereby the beer orother liquid may be drawn olf readily while in chilled condition.

container is first being- However, where the barrel or-keg is 12 and 13ntted interiorly of' 'of the other tanks, namely,

From Figure 1 it will be noted pipe 15 is arranged interiorly of pipe17, which latter pipe acts as a protection against the ice andothermatter and also provides a still air chamber v18 which with pipe 17presents a heat insulating structure. Tank 2 is provided with a pipe 15in a similar manner to vtank 3 so that both these tanks function `in thesame way and liquid is adapted to be drawnV off from either or bothtanks simultaneously. If for any reason it should be so desired, insteadof having pipe arranged interiorly of tank 2, the fitting 19 could 1 tothe tting 14 so be connected by a suitable pipe that all of the liquidwould be drawnloff through one pipe, namely, pipe 15 of tank 3. Theintention is to ll all the tanks with the beer or other liquid and notdraw off any until the liquid in all the tanks has been chilled to thedesired extent. After this occurs the liquid may be drawn off from timeto time from tanks 2 and 3 and as fast asv it is drawn olf new liquidwill flow through the discharge member 9 into tank 1, and the liquidfrom the bottom of member 1 will ow automatically into tanks 2 and `3 totake the place of the liquid Withdrawn' therefrom. It will therefore beobserved that in every instance the liquid is discharged into therespective tanks near the top and is drawn out near the bottom, so thatin each instance the liquid leaving the particular tank is the coldestliquid in that tan The comparatively warm beerentering tank 1 at the topwill be chilled and gradually cooled by the time'it reaches the bottom,and the same is true the liquid entering the/upper part thereof will befurther cooled and chilled so that it will be coldest by the time itreaches'the discharge ttings14 and 19.

In order that the device may function as just described and at the sametime release some of the original air in the tanks, and inl addition theair or gases formed therein, there are provided the valves 20, 21 and 22for the respective tanks. These valves are all of identicalconstruction. The detailed structure of one of these valves is shown inFigure 3, to which reference is made.

As illustrated in Figure 3 there is provided a casingA 23 which has anintegral extension 24 formed with threads 25 whereby it may be screwedinto' a cap on upper end of tank 1. A gasket 26 is used toinsure a tightconnection. The extension 24 is provided with a tapering valve 'seat 27to be used in connection with the valve 28 as hereinafter more fullydescribed. A

tubular member 29 is with the casing 23 or welded'or otherwise rigidlysecured thereto, said tubular member-extending upwardly about half thelength of the casing 23, though it could be longer or shorter asdesired. Arranged. at the upper end of the casing 23 are threads 30which coact with the threads 31 on the closure 32, said closure having abore 33 extending entirely therethrough but restricted at 34. Anextension 35 i's also formed on the closure 32 so as to center and holdin place the spring 36 which rests against the closure 32 and againstthe valve structure 37 for holding the same against the seat 38 formedon the upper end of the tube 29. A lock nut 39 is screwed on to thethreads 31 and acts to lock the closure member 32 against accidentalremoval. When ever desired this nut can be loosened and the closurescrewed inwardly or "outwardly for varying the tension of the springy36. When this has been done the locky nut is again tightened so thatthe parts will not accidentally shift. A

either formed integral rod 40 is arranged so as to extend entirelyythrough the tube 29, the base of the casing 23 and extension 24 wherebyit will extend above and below these respective members. is providedwith threaded sections 41 and 42, section 41 carrying the valvestructure 28 which consists of nut 43 carrying a rubber, leather orother member 44. The bottom of member 44 is clamped against the nut 43by a nut 45, a suitable washer 46 transmitting the strain. It will benoted that the member 44 is provided with a chamber or hollow portion 47above the nut 43. This allows a motion or resilient action when thevalve member presses against the seat 27. In connection with thethreaded ends 42 the valve member 37 is of identical structure withvalve member 38 except that the nut 45 is provided with a flange 48 toaccommodate the lower end of spring 36, whereby this spring has acontinuous tendency to hold the parts shown in Figure 3, namely, withthe valve member 37 pressing against the seat 38. Pistons 49 and 50 arecarried by the rod 40 and preferably formed integral therewith. Thesepistons provide a sliding contact with the walls of pipe 29 andassociated parts. There is enough clearness, however, to permit air andgas to ow in a limited amount.

With the valve constructed as just described and one provided foreach ofthe containers or tanks shown in Figure 1 the device is in condition foruse.

This rod When first used the various con-- tainers are naturally lledwith air and as the beer enters as heretofore be brought under pressuremore and more, thel pressure being caused by the entrance of the beerand the expansion thereof. As gases liberated from the beer enter theupper part of the containers the air is compressed more and more andeventually the air and gases passing the pistons 49 and 50 will act onthe valve member 37 and gradually raise the same against they: action ofthe spring 36. At first the valve is merely raised a, very shortdistance but as the pressure in the various containers increases and thelevel of the liquid increases the air pressure will increase. This airpressure will gradually raise valve 37 more and more and as it raisesvalve 37, valve 28 is also raised. This action continues untilsubstantially all of the air has been exhausted from the containers.When this happens the valve 28 is pressing against the seat 27 and anyadded pressure caused by the incoming beer will merely cause valve 28 topress more tightly against seat 27, thus producinga seal with usually` asmall amount of gas at the upper end of each tank. The pressure of thisgas causes a counter-pres-y sure to the incoming beer pressure theincoming beer is maintained substantially constant. Whenever a quantityof the liquid is drawnof the result will naturally be a reduction in the`pressure in the various conthe pressure will be such that and by reasonof this described the air will.

tainers and, consequently, a slight liberation of y gases. This resultsin permitting the spring 36,v to lower valve 28 slightly but only for averyl short time. During this vshort period a desired portion of thegases produced will be vented and the increase in pressure produced bythe incomin-g liquid will again seat :valve 28 firmly. It f will beunderstood that the valve is opened and closed very rapidly so thatthere is justasmall l a glassful. In this way all the gases formed bythe reduction in pressure through the drawing off of a supply of liquidis taken care of so that the beer in the various containers will besubstantially all in a liquid state. This is very de- .sirable where thedevice is to be left for any length of time as, for instance, overSunday. In most places beer is not dispensed on Sundays and the beerwould naturally be allowed to remain in the various containers ready tobe used on Monday. If the various containers were open to the atmospherethe result would be a releasing of the gases in the beer whereby thebeer would be at and unsaleable on Monday morning. By maintaining acounter-pressure of gas sufficient to keep the valves closed, thenatural gases in the beer in the various containers are prevented fromescaping and, consequently, the beer may remain one or many days inthecontainers and retain its proper condition ready for consumption.

From Figure 3 it will be noted that there is provided a protectingsleeve or casing 23 which is held in position by any suitable means as,for instance, by the thread at the upper end. This protecting casing issuiciently large to permit the gases to readily pass back and forth sothat the valve will function in the manner set forth and yet the valvemember 28 and associated parts will be protected against accidentalbreakage.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5 it will be seen that the same inventiveidea is present, but the containers are arranged horizontally instead ofvertically. .In this form of the invention the respective valves 20,-21and 22 are arranged preferably substantially central at the highestpoint of each container so as to release the gases as heretoforementioned in respect to the preferred form. Th containers may beconnected together in assembled position in any desired manner as, forinstance, by a suitable saddle 51 which may be welded, soldered orotherwise secured to the respective containers. The container 4 isprovided with an inlet pipe 52 which is adapted to be connected to asupply of liquid, for instance, a barrel or keg of beer. The pipe 52discharges through a suitable discharge member 9' similar to member 9.However, instead of having the containers as shown in Figure 1, inclinedtubular members 53 and 54 are provided as shown in Figure 5, wherein theliquid from the lowest part of container 4 enters the other containersat a point appreciably above the bottom. The outlet fittings 55 and 56of the lower containers take liquid from the lowermost point of thelower containers, so that the circulation or movement of the beer inthis form of the invention is the same as in the preferred form, namely,from the top of the respective containers downwardly, with the coldestliquid from container 4 enteringwhe upper part of the lower containers,and in turn thecoldest liquid from the lower containers passing to` thedischarge point.

In the accompanying drawings one primary container and two auxiliarycontainers have been shown, but if desired a greater or less number ofcontainers could be used without departing from the spirit of theinvention. In all forms of the` invention the relief valve shown Figure3 isutilized to relieve the respectivecontainers of the air and gaseswhen the beer rst enters the containers, and later relieves any air orgases from time to time automatically as the liquid is drawn from thedevice. v

I claim:

l. A liquid cooling apparatus comprising a main container, a pluralityof auxiliary containers, means providing communication between thebottom of the mainA container and the top portion of the respectiveauxiliary containers, means for directing liquid into the maincontainer, a pipe for directing liquid from the bottom of the auxiliarycontainers, a housing surrounding and spaced from said pipe, saidhousing acting in the double Capacity of protecting means and insulatingmeans, and a vent valve provided at the highest pointin each of saidcontainers.

2. A liquid cooling apparatus comprising a main container, a pluralityof auxiliary containers,

means providing communication between the respective containers, meansproviding outlets for the auxiliary containers, a valve structurecarried by the upper part of each'container acting as an air vent, saidvalve structure including a vdouble acting valve member, a tubularstructure coacting with -said double acting valve member, and a springfor normally holding one end of the double acting valve member againstone end of the tubular structure whereby air and gas cannot escape untilthe pressure has overcome the action of said spring, said double acting,valve member moving upwardly against the action ofthe spring as thepressure increases until the lower end thereof engages said tubularstructure.

3. A liquid cooling apparatus including a main container, an auxiliarycontainer, a pipe leading from the bottom of the main-container to apoint adjacent the top of the auxiliary container, said pipe at theupper end being formed with a discharge structure for discharging liquidbelow and along the walls of the auxiliary container, an outlet memberconnected to the bottom of said auxiliary container, an inlet member fordirecting liquid tothe main container near the top thereof, said inletmember having a discharge structure acting to discharge the liquid inopposite directions substantially parallel with the walls of thecontainer, and an air vent structure at the highest point of both ofsaid containers for venting the air therefrom, each of said ventingstructures including a double end valve formed with a spring fornormally-holding one end closed, said spring acting to hold said valveclosed until overco-me by the pressure in the container, said pressureacting to close the other end of the valve against the action of saidspring.

4. A liquid cooling apparatus for beer and the like, including a maincontainer, means for directing the liquid into the main container at theupper end thereof, an auxiliary container, means for directing liquidfrom the main container to the upper portion of the auxiliary container,an outlet vconnected with the lower end of said auxiliary container, anda vent valve for each container, each vent valve comprising a slidingvalve structure yhaving a valve near each end, a stationary tubularmember positioned to be engaged by the valve members according to theposition of the valve structure, 'and a spring for normally holding oneof the valve members against one end of said tubular structure wherebyair and gas Y in the respective containers are maintained therevin untilthe pressure thereof is suflicient to overcome the action of saidspring, whereupon said valve structure will be moved so as to allow thepassage of air and gas through said tubular structure, said valvestructure functioning to close the lower end of said tubular structurewhen the pressure in the container has reached a certain extent, saidpressure being sufllcient to completely overcome the action of saidspring.

5. A liquid cooling apparatus including a container having an inlet andan outlet, a vent valve for the container for venting air and gasestherefrom, said vent valve including a casing screwed into the containerso as to be in free communication therewith, a tubular member arrangedwithin the casing with one end normally projecting into the containerand the other into the casing, a rod extending through said tubularstructure, a pair of spaced pistons carried by said rod a'nd looselyfitting said tubular structure s o that air and gas may escape by thepistons in limited quantities, a valve member at each end of said rod,said valve members being spaced apart so that when the upper valvemember is resting on said tubular structure the lower valve member willbe spaced an appreciable distance therefrom, a spring acting on theupper valve member and normally maintaining the same seated, anadjustable `structure carried by the casing for regulating thevtensionof said spring.

6. A liquid cooling apparatus including a container and a vent valvetherefor, said vent valve having an inner and an outer valve seat, saidinnel valve seat projecting into the container and said outer valve seatbeing positioned exterior of the container, a rod extendingthrough thevalve seats, a valve member positioned on said rod near each endthereof, and a spring normally causing one ofthe valve members to engagesaid outer valve seat, said spring acting against any air and gas withinsaid container.

7. A cooling device for liquids including a container and a ventstructure therefor, said vent structure including a tubular memberextending into said container, a rod extending through said tubularmember, means for guiding said rod so as to hold the same centrally ofsaid tubular member, said means permitting air and gas to pass inlimited quantities, a valve structure secured to said rod at each endthereof, each of said valve structures including a pair of clampingmembers and a rubber casing formed to collapse to a greater or lessextent as the valve member is forced against its seat.

8. In a cooling device of the character de'- scribed, an air ventstructure including a valve having a tubular portion with a seat, a rodextending through said tubular portion, a valve carried by said rod andformed With a hollow contact member capable of collapsing when pressedagainst said seat, and spring means for normally holding said contactmember away from said seat.

9. A cooling device for eiervescent liquids, including a container,means for directing liquid into the container near the top, means at thebottom of the container for directing liquid therefrom, a ventingstructure at the highest point in the container, said venting structurehaving a casing formed with a tubular member having one end extendinginto said container and the other end at an appreciable distance abovethe container, the respective ends of said tubular structure formingvalve seats, a rod extending through said tubular structure `formed withintegral lp=sy tons having a limited clearance with the tubularstructure, a valve member threaded on to each end of said rod, each ofsaid valve members having a resilient face adapted to engage a seat adujacent thereto, and a spring acting on one of the valve members fornormally holding the same against said seat, said spring being adaptedto be overcome by the air pressure and gas in said container, thepressure in the container being` adapted to become sufliciently strongto completely overcome said spring and seat the valve member at theopposite end of said rod whereby the liquid cannot escape from thecontainer.

LEO SAMEL.

